


The Exit Sign

by ChristmasInJuly



Category: Orange is the New Black
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Gen, I totally stole the door thing from Being Human, No Spoilers, One Shot, Sad with a Happy Ending, Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-02
Updated: 2016-07-02
Packaged: 2018-07-19 14:36:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7365439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChristmasInJuly/pseuds/ChristmasInJuly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Poussey took her last breath in Litchfield she woke up in purgatory. Someone she never thought she'd see again is there to prepare her for the final crossing. Story takes place immediately after the last episode of Season 4.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Exit Sign

It felt like a second.

To Poussey the time that passed between then and now felt like a second. She closed her eyes in prison. She opened her eyes in a white void.

She inhaled sharply and scrambled to her feet.

From a great distance, a lone figure in a purple robe with her hands behind her back watched Poussey promptly lose her mind.

Still dressed in her sweatshirt and pants from Litchfield, Poussey kept looking around. Her head swiveled from side to side. Her eyes were wide in shock, horror, fear, everything.

The left side of her face was still cold from where it'd been pressed against the tiles on the cafeteria floor. Poussey rubbed some warmth back into her cheek.

"Man, what the fuck?"

Poussey pressed her palms against her chest. Then her abdomen. The last thing she felt before the last breath she took was a stinging pain in her chest. A tearing sensation. When she could no longer inhale, that pain spread almost immediately from her rib cage to her face.

Every cell in her body was crying out for air. She was panicking. It was terrifying knowing that her insides were suffocating and there was nothing she could do about it.

She was still panicking.

Cause she just realized that she was dead.

"Poussey," the figure called out.

"Wha?" Poussey turned and saw the robe for the first time. "Who are you?"

"Come over here, child," said a thick accented voice. A woman's voice. An old woman's voice.

Poussey took a step back. "Yo, I don't believe in ghosts so you need to go haunt somebody else."

The woman laughed and it reverberated across the slick white floor. She tossed her hood back and smiled.

Poussey tilted her head. Her brow furrowed. A small, confused smile turned the corners of her lips.

"Miss Claudette?"

She couldn't be 100% sure it was her. For starters, she didn't even know if Miss Claudette was dead or alive. She knew she was dead though. But she had no idea where she was. Miss Claudette did. Right?

It sure did look like her. Short gray afro. Round body. Haitian accent. All she was missing was that mean old scowl she used to wear on her face, stitched into her features.

"Aight, what the fuck is this? I know you ain't no angel," said Poussey with her playful smirk.

"I'm not an angel. You are right."

They stared at each other. Well, until Poussey broke out into laughter. Her adorable, infectious smile was contagious and Miss Claudette was smiling before she knew it too.

"They're not ready for you yet," said Miss Claudette.

"Who's not ready? God?"

Miss Claudette raised an eyebrow. "Who do you think?"

"He didn't know I was about to die? Damn," said Poussey. "And I thought I was shocked."

"She."

Poussey narrowed her dark brown eyes. "She?"

Miss Claudette nodded. "She."

"Aw snap," said Poussey. "God is a woman? Yo, is she beautiful? She's got to be beautiful. Can I see her? Oh man, Miss Claudette - when do I get to see God? No. No, when do I get to see my mom? Cause my moms is in heaven, I know it. She got to be. When can I go, Miss Claudette?"

"Hold on, child."

Miss Claudette walked closer to Poussey, closing the big blank gap between them.

"We were expecting you but you weren't expecting us," said Miss Claudette.

"Obviously!"

Poussey remembered the last thing she saw before she ended up here. Taystee was being dragged. A lot of people were being dragged but Taystee dropped to the ground at the exact moment she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.

She didn't know it was going to be like that. Poussey didn't know it would be so sudden.

"Look here." Miss Claudette waved her hand and a blue door appeared ten feet away. Poussey glanced at it over her shoulder.

"Is that it?" Poussey asked. She pointed at the door. "Is that mine?"

"Yes."

"So I can go?"

Miss Claudette put her hand on Poussey's shoulder. "There are two things you must know before you cross over into the afterlife."

"Don't pass go... don't collect $100?" Poussey grinned but Miss Claudette didn't return the gesture. She dropped the jokes and got serious.

"Once you leave this place you can never go back. This is it, child."

Poussey laughed again and took a step back, away from Miss Claudette's hand. She looked around her at all of the nothing. Poussey motioned to the void and spun around for emphasis.

"I ain't gonna miss this. I don't even know what this is."

Miss Claudette chuckled. "Purgatory."

Poussey froze. "Say what now?"

"When anyone dies an accidental death, they come to purgatory first." Miss Claudette explained, "You're in purgatory."

"Wow," said Poussey. She looked down at the slick white floors beneath her government issued boots. "Purgatory, huh? And it was an accident? What the fuck... wait. I'm not Catholic though. So how exactly does that work?"

"I don't make the rules, I just follow them."

"Wait, does that mean that you're dead too?" Poussey asked with her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open.

"Stop changing the subject. Be quiet and listen."

Poussey regained her composure and straightened up her posture.

Miss Claudette continued. "Once you leave this place, you can never go back to life. You will never see your friends again. You will never speak to anyone living again. This is it."

Once the jokes were set aside and the reality hit her, Poussey felt the full gravity of her situation.

She was dead. She was never going to breathe again. She was never going to be alive again. Her life was over.

Her life was literally over.

"Do you need a moment?" Concerned, Miss Claudette leaned in.

"Nah," said Poussey. She sniffled. "I'm good. What's the second thing?"

Miss Claudette leaned back. She looked at Poussey's door.

"Once you walk through that door, you will be cut off from the present. Anything that happens in the real world, you will never know about it. Behind that door is a world that belongs to you. All you have to do is let go of the past. Let go of your life. Let go of your death. And move on. To the next best place."

Poussey said softly, "So what you're saying is... if I leave here I'll never know anything about any of the people I left behind..."

"Yes."

Poussey folded her arms. "I gotta make a decision right now?"

"Your door isn't going anywhere. But I can't stay here with you all day and all night, girl," said Miss Claudette.

"I gotta choose. You sure I can't have a little bit of both?" Poussey gave Miss Claudette a sheepish grin.

"Don't make me push you through that door."

Poussey tried to smile again, but she couldn't. This was it. And Miss Claudette was right, she wasn't expecting anything like this. She wasn't expecting death. She didn't know why this was happening. Why her? What did she do to deserve this?

She had a girl, finally. She finally had someone to love her. Judy King was gonna hook her up with a job. Her Dad always said when she got out of prison on good behavior (he just knew she was gonna get out on good behavior sooner or later), he was going to fly her out of the states. Throw her a big party. And then never come back.

She had a future. She was happy. Finally.

Tears filled her eyes.

Brook. Taystee. Suzanne. Janae. Cindy. Nicky. Sophia. Her Dad. Her friends. There was a lock on their world now. She could never go back... even if they could get rid of that lock and let her back in, Poussey didn't know if trying to go back would even be worth it.

"I, uh, I..." Poussey covered her face and tried to slow down her racing heart.

"You have to make a decision."

Poussey wiped her face with the sleeves of her sweatshirt. She looked down at herself again and then looked Miss Claudette square in the eye.

"Is my mom behind that door?"

Miss Claudette smiled. She closed her eyes and nodded.

"Oh, man." Poussey turned and walked away.

She started pacing. Her heart was racing again. She didn't want to leave her Dad or her love or her best-friends... but there was something better ahead. There was someone waiting for her.

"Okay," she said.

"Okay?"

Poussey rubbed her nose and held back her tears. "I want Door Number One."

Miss Claudette extended her arm towards the blue door in a white door frame.

They walked side-by-side to Poussey's exit, but slowly. Very slowly.

"How did you die, Miss Claudette?" Poussey asked.

"Peacefully. In my sleep," she said with a smile. She was proud of that.

"How'd you get this job?"

Miss Claudette chuckled. "I'm not telling. What? So you can try and take it from me."

Poussey laughed. "I wish I would've got to know you better when we were alive."

Her door cracked open and in the sliver of light there was no light at all. Poussey squinted. It was dark on the other side of the door. She wasn't scared before, but she was now. Poussey stopped short of the door frame.

Miss Claudette put her hand on Poussey's back and gently pushed her forward.

"There's nothing we can do about the past," Miss Claudette whispered.

The door cracked open a little wider. It squeaked on the hinges.

"You've suffered enough in your short lifetime," Miss Claudette added. "Now you can be happy."

"What? Happy? How?" Poussey turned to look at Miss Claudette suspiciously.

"Go, child," said Miss Claudette. "Be happy."

Poussey took a deep breath and pushed the door open. She stepped inside. It closed behind her fast. So fast, it was shut before Poussey could say goodbye. Before she could say thank you.

The wind blew and it took a few seconds for Poussey's eyes to adjust to the darkness.

She could hear water rushing, like water in a river. She could smell grass. And "grass". It was a little chilly. In the distance there were car horns and city noises.

The Brooklyn Bridge to her right, the Empire State building to her left.

Poussey looked down at herself and instead of Litchfield boots she wore her favorite boots from Germany. Instead of prison issued pants and a musty gray sweatshirt, she wore her brown skinnies, a comfy plaid shirt, a jacket that smelled like cigarette smoke, and hoop earrings. Her hair was long again and everything.

The New York City skyline was in front of her. She put her hands in her pockets and admired the view.

It was a view she thought she'd never see again. For a few moments she couldn't remember how she got there. She didn't think about the prison or death or all the people she would miss or how sad she was and how lonely she would be.

Standing there in tall grass, overlooking the Hudson and the greatest city in the world, Poussey could only think about the best day of her life. For the rest of time she was going to live inside the best day of her life? Poussey didn't know for sure, but she sure as hell hoped it was true. Because it really was the best day.

A funny phone call from her mom, laughing with her best-friends, a crazy concert, her first American LGBT club, a bike ride with monks, some really good weed, and going to bed in Brooklyn with her loved ones next to her.

That moment was the best day of her life.

She was going to live in that moment from now on. The thought alone made her smile.

**Author's Note:**

> First story for AO3, so if I messed up the tags or something else let me know. Help a noob out!


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